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What feels like decades ago, back in 2019, I saw Slayyyter perform live at the El Rey in Los Angeles with very few f*cks to give. Of course, her laissez faire attitude is part of what draws fans in, embracing a pop star who is well aware that being too polished and shiny is off-putting in the post-internet era. Slayyyter is Catherine Slater, a pop fanatic who grew up in St. Louis obsessing over the likes of Britney, Christina, and even Gaga. After an initial self-titled project, Slayyyter came out in 2019, Slater is now readying her first official release via Fader Label.

She announced Troubled Paradise in early 2021, sharing the title track and video and following it up tonight with another new song, “Clouds.” Though her past stuff was grittier and more ironic, these new songs hew closer to the sparkling bubblegum pop sound that defined the early 2000s, and she pulls it off with surprising confidence. Though “Troubled Paradise” has more of an ’80s tilt, this latest track, “Clouds,” is even more champagne daydream pop. Listen below and check out the full tracklist for Troubled Paradise below.

1. “Self Destruct”
2. “Venom”
3. “Throatzillaaa”
4. “Dog House”
5. “Butterflies…”
6. “Troubled Paradise”
7. “Clouds”
8. “Cowboys”
9. “Serial Killer”
10. “Over This!”
11. “Villain”
12. “Letters”

Troubled Paradise is out 6/11 via Fader Label. Pre-order it here.

As part of a new project with ESPN’s The Undefeated, Tinashe has released a cover of the classic empowerment anthem “I’m Every Woman.” First popularized by Chaka Khan in 1978 — it was the lead single off her debut album Chaka — the track was later popularized in the ’90s by Whitney Houston, who turned it into more of a pop hit than the original funk and disco vibe.

Tinashe has obviously heard both versions of the song, and seems to pull from both artist’s legacies in her own version, working in funk and disco alongside itchy house beats, but including plenty of dramatic belting that’s rare for the R&B star’s vocal style. Dramatic belting doubles as an ode to Whitney whenever it’s done well, and Tinashe pulls it off with surprising ease here. Last year she spoke to us about bringing live shows into people’s living rooms during the pandemic, this year, she’s catapulting herself into the realm of disco and funk with a truly superb cover. Check out the song above.

Other artists involved in The Undefeated’s Music For The Movement Volume II project, a part of Black History Always, also includes offerings like Tobe Nwigwe’s take on Melvin & The Blue Notes’ (Featuring Teddy Pendergrass) “Wake Up Everybody,” Brent Faiyaz contributing an original new song, “Eden,” and Freddie Gibbs doing Gil Scott Heron’s “Winter In America.” The first EP, Music For The Movement Volume I, featured Rapsody, Jensen McRae, Terrace Martin, Alex Isley, Robert Glasper, and Keedron Bryant.

Noname has yet to fail on the musical front. The Chicago rapper has given fans great bodies of work with her Telefone and Room 25 albums in addition to a collection of impressive guest features and standalone singles. With that being said, this fall will mark three years since Room 25, but hopefully, by then the rapper will have released her third album, Factory Baby, a project she announced back in 2019. As we await an official release date for it, Noname returns with what could be the project’s first single in “Rainforest.”

The single fits perfectly with much of the music in her catalog. It’s backed by production that carries a slight groove while Noname lets her thoughts about a number of topics, including her displeasure with billionaires and the people who support them. The track arrives after she announced it in a very nonchalant way earlier this month. “lmao i don’t even know how to promote myself as a rapper anymore but my song Rainforest drops in a few weeks,” she wrote in a tweet.

The song is her first release since last year’s “Song 33,” a track she dropped in response to J. Cole’s controversial “Snow On Tha Bluff” record. As for Factory Baby, it remains to be seen when the album will drop, but when it does, it could be Noname’s last album as she revealed in 2019 that she would quit music after its release because her “heart isn’t fully in it anymore.”

Check out the song in the video above.

Last year, Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats teamed up for their Unlocked project, which they released with little to no announcement for fans. The 8-track effort was an entirely solo release from the pairing, but it will soon receive a sweet update with the help of a strong cast of collaborators. However, before that arrives, the duo unleashes a brand new remix of “Cosmic. m4a” featuring Joey Badass and The Alchemist. Thanks to new production from the latter, the updated version comes with a more raucous beat and brash verse from Joey.

The reconstructed “Cosmic.m4a” track arrives a week after Denzel and Kenny called on Smino and Robert Glasper to remix “So.Incredible.Pkg” Both songs will appear on Unlocked 1.5, a re-release of the duo’s Unlocked that they announced last week. The news was shared through a trailer with appearances from Glasper, Alchemist, and Georgia Anne Muldrow, who all jumped on a call to discuss the new project. According to the video, fans can expect features from Arlo Parks, Benny The Butcher, Charlie Heat, Kenny Mason, Jay Versace, Sango, and more on Unlocked 1.5.

The new version of “Cosmic.m4a” comes after Denzel recently collaborated with Snot and JID on “Sangria” and “Bruuuh (Remix)” respectively. Kenny Beats has also been active this year as he produced Flo Milli’s latest single, “Roaring 20s.”

Hit play on the new song in the video above.

Unlocked 1.5 is out 3/5 via PH Recordings.

Last night Chloe X Halle dropped the video for “Ungodly Hour,” the title track off their massive 2020 breakout album. But that wasn’t the only thing they had in store for fans. Since the pandemic has made it impossible for musicians to tour their work, plenty are opting to release a deluxe or revamped version of their records from last year. Chloe X Halle have dubbed theirs the “Chrome Edition” of Ungodly Hour, and dropped the new version tonight. This edition includes two new tracks from the sisters Bailey, and the songs hew a lot closer to gothic pop than the smoldering R&B of the rest of the album.

Not that there aren’t hints of this kind of power on “Tipsy,” but “Hazy” and “80/20” take on an even more confident, swaggering feel — there’s no shying, loved-up narrator on these tracks. Instead, braggadocio and dark beats pepper the new songs, which are ripe for remixes too. And though it’s not fair to constantly compare Chloe and Halle to their mentor, Beyonce, these two songs in particular are reminiscent of some of the more bossed up work she’s been drawn to, especially later in her career. For this duo to already be at that place of extreme confidence at this age? Now that’s the power of a mentor. Check out “Hazy” above and “80/20” below.

Pop Smoke was just getting a taste of stardom when it was all ripped away from him in early 2020. The Brooklyn rapper was tragically shot and killed during a home invasion in Los Angeles. While his musical talents and impact were undeniable, we recently learned that Pop had so much more he wanted to prove to his supporters. In just a week, the rapper will make his posthumous acting debut for Eddie Huang’s basketball film, Boogie. While fans will still have to wait for the arrival of that film, they can enjoy some new music from Pop thanks to his “AP” single.

The new track finds Pop Smoke thriving in the drill rap pocket that brought him a massive wave of supporters in his unfortunately brief career. Throughout the nearly three-minute song, the Brooklyn native flaunts his lavish lifestyle and raps about his jewelry, money, and more. The track is the also official lead single for the Boogie film. In it, Pop will play a character named Monk, one who rivals the movie’s main character Alfred “Boogie” Chin (played by Taylor Takahashi) on and off the basketball court.

“AP” may not be the only song fans hear from Pop Smoke this year. DMX and Meek Mill have both teased records that he is featured on.

Hear the new single in the video above.

Boogie is scheduled for release on March 5 through Focus Features.

Stop the presses — two of music’s most legendary groovers are collaborating.

In an unexpected Instagram post from Bruno Mars — who has been relatively quiet on the new music front since his controversially won Album Of The Year at the 2018 Grammys — revealed that he and Anderson .Paak have teamed up for what is sure to be one of the funkiest supergroups around. Dubbing themselves Silk Sonic, Mars shared that the two have already made a whole album’s worth of material together, and the first new song will be dropping next week, March 5.

“We locked in and made an album,” Bruno wrote on Instagram. The band’s called Silk Sonic. First song drops next Friday 3/5.”

This isn’t the first time .Paak has worked with another artist for an entire album. His project NxWorries is a supergroup with LA legend Knxwledge, and their 2016 album Yes Lawd! is still a fan-favorite. Bruno isn’t a stranger to working with other big names, he infamously pulled Cardi B onto “Finesse” at the height of her career, and has worked with The Police (!) already. But he hasn’t gone as far as to create an entire album with another artist, so it will be fascinating to see how this plays out. In the meantime, check in next Friday to get the first taste of Silk Sonic.

The Denver Nuggets haven’t been able to get out of second gear this season despite the sensational play of Nikola Jokic, and on Thursday they lost to the Washington Wizards for the second time this month, falling to 17-15. The Wizards have been very good of late, winning six of their last seven, but even so, this isn’t a team that Denver would believe should be capable of picking up a season series sweep against them.

And yet, despite some shaky execution late offensively by the Wizards, they were able to pull out a 112-110 win thanks to what can only be described as the worst 4-on-1 fastbreak in NBA history. Washington missed their final shot attempt and Nikola Jokic was able to tip the rebound out to Jamal Murray to start what should’ve been a fastbreak to tie the game, at the very least. Bradley Beal was the only Wizard between Murray, Facu Campazzo, Michael Porter Jr., Will Barton, and the rim.

What happened from there was, truly, stunning to watch.

Somehow, out of that incredible opportunity, the Wizards could only manage a three-point heave from Campazzo, who was 1-of-6 prior to that moment from three on the night. Murray pulls up at the three-point line, possibly thinking that he’d get one of his teammates to cut to the rim and put Beal in a situation to make a hard decision: give up a pull-up three that could give Denver a win or give up an open layup that would send the game to overtime.

Instead, Campazzo, MPJ and the trailing Barton all stop at various points on the three-point line as well, leaving Murray with no outs when Beal jumps out on him and a trailing Rui Hachimura arrives as well. The result is a skip pass to Campazzo who launches a contested three that barely catches iron. After the game, Murray took responsibility for the blown opportunity, but in all honesty, it’s far from his fault alone.

If just one of his teammates cuts to the rim, Denver gets a much better shot, but he also could’ve gone downhill to attack Beal and then kick it out to Porter Jr. in the corner. Everyone involved erred and the result is one of the most stunning missed executions of what should’ve been an easy scoring opportunity of the season.

Murray said postgame he should’ve just shot the ball and that he thought Porter would cut, but it was just a misunderstanding at the worst time.

The Hawks are having a disappointing season, particularly after team governor Tony Ressler passed down a mandate to the team to make the playoffs after spending big this offseason. As a result, head coach Lloyd Pierce’s seat has gotten quite hot, with the Hawks below .500 and scuffling to a 4-9 record in February.

Pierce gave an interview to Jeff Schultz of The Athletic effectively clearing the air on his feelings about the status of his job, the Hawks’ season overall, and his relationship with general manager Travis Schlenk. The way Pierce put it, he treated every day of being as a head coach as a day on the hot seat, and has learned to have peace of mind about the temperamental nature of NBA decision-makers.

“It’s always going to fall on me,” Lloyd told Schultz. “That’s part of sports. I’m glad it falls on me because it won’t shake me one bit.”

Still, because he has become so close with Schlenk, the dynamic around the fact that Schlenk may soon have to fire him doesn’t seem to phase the Hawks coach, who recognizes how the business works and is simply going to keep trying to do what he can until he’s told the job is no longer his.

“Travis is going to fire me one day,” Pierce said matter of factly. “And do you know what I’m going to say? The guy gave me a great opportunity in life. Do you think I’m going to be pissed? He’s damn near my best friend. I’m eternally thankful for his belief in me, and ultimately the decisions he has to make are always going to be about the organization, but I’m eternally grateful for the belief and the confidence that he has had in me. That’s the beauty of this. That’s why there’s no pressure or stress. I have a job to fulfill. I have to hold all the responsibilities and standards towards me, and I understand that. That’s the job.”

After early reports of tensions between star players Trae Young and John Collins, things have not gotten any steadier in Atlanta. The team keeps losing, has not been healthy all year, and may be lining things up to make the affable Pierce the fall guy soon.

Seth Curry is enjoying a strong season with the Philadelphia 76ers and, upon arrival, the 30-year-old guard helped to transform his new team’s offense with his perimeter shooting. Given that Curry converted 45.1 percent of his three-point attempts in the two previous seasons and Philadelphia was desperate for floor spacing, the partnership always made sense, and the 76ers are bearing the fruits of the acquisition to the tune of the East’s best record.

On the flip side, the Dallas Mavericks aren’t faring quite as well this season after sending Curry to Philadelphia in a swap for Josh Richardson. To that end, Dallas lost to Philadelphia by a 111-97 margin at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday evening and, after the game, Curry sent some positive vibes to his old team, all while making it clear that he feels the Mavericks made an error by dealing him.

The wording of “bad business decision” is tremendous here, even if it makes total sense that Curry would feel that way. Dallas isn’t suddenly a struggling offensive team, as most of their issues are on the defensive end, but the Mavericks were the No. 1 offense in the NBA last season and they haven’t been able to replicate that level of success on a grand scale. Some of that is the absence of Curry as one of the league’s best shooters, and Richardson hasn’t been fantastic in Dallas, even with some recent improvement.

On paper, the Curry-Richardson swap made perfect sense for both teams and it filled needs on each side. So far, though, Curry and the 76ers have to be the ones feeling pretty fantastic about the deal. For good measure, Curry scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting with a perfect 3-of-3 mark from long distance on Thursday evening, and he got the last laugh with an apt quote after the final buzzer.